Subgenres, Wikipedia and Finding My Geek Niche

I had some free time so I was browsing Wikipedia and ended up reading the articles on Sword and Planet and Planetary Romance. They clearly haven’t been written by the same people as they differ on a number of points. The Sword and Planet article, which I think is a better constructed piece than the other, argues that it is a distinct genre from Planetary Romance, whereas the latter article has a non-committal discussion on ‘sword and planet’.

Once the article on Space Opera is added to the mix things get even more confusing as it had a section arguing its definition in opposition to Planetary Romance – since one happens in space and comes from Westerns and Seafaring epics whereas Planetary Romance happens on a planet and is tied to lost world and lost civilisation tales. Who knows what happens when stories go from outer space to a planet and back again?

Now, I know opponents of Wikipedia will jump on this opportunity to say it’s more proof of its inaccuracy and inconsistency, but that’s not fair. Genres are notoriously difficult to nail down and subgenres like these are even worse and will be described differently by scholars regardless.

As always, genres and subgenres are just broad boxes which inevitably overlap in any given story. But looking at them and some of the authors involved in these and others (Weird, Sword and Sorcery etc) I realise I have a huge interest in the developments of Speculative Fiction (the overarching super-genre) through the first half of last century and the end of the one before it. Particularly in the pulp era when genres were being mashed together all over the place and new territories uncovered.

I think that’s where I’d like to focus my studies and my geekiness. So expect to see more posts on this era and the stories it generated.

Keep dreaming.

September Reading Round-up

This month was mainly marked by two books, Kevin J Anderson’s Hopscotch and Frank Herbert’s High-Opp. I did also read issue 62 of Aurealis.

Let’s start with Hopscotch. The concept behind this is really intriguing; basically at some point in human evolution we gain the ability to swap bodies with each other, which makes the old adage of ‘live a day in another person’s shoes’ seem rather quaint – shoes? Bah, I was in their feet. The possibilities with this are huge and unfortunately the book tries to cover a lot of them.

It follows four orphans as they leave the orphanage and enter this brave new world. They each have their own paths and the stories wind their own ways, overlapping only in characters for the most part. At first it was like reading a series of interrelated short stories and I was enjoying that, but as the stories began to spin out I kept waiting for more to happen. So while I did enjoy it, Hopscotch could have been much better I feel. It explored too many ideas, the main characters were always too angelic and not enough actually happened. Which I didn’t expect from Anderson, although I admit the only other things of his I’ve read so far are his Star Wars works and the Crystal Door trilogy he co-wrote with Rebecca Moesta.

Herbert’s High-Opp was an early work, previously unpublished. It seems he wrote a number of works before Dune which no-one picked up and now the Kevin J Anderson and Brian Herbert team are making them available. Whether this is a good thing or not I’m not prepared to say; High-Opp had an intriguing idea but felt rather under-cooked – especially the ending.

It’s essentially a dystopia where the world is now governed by ‘opinion polls’ – fancy that. The extreme version of what we’re dangerously close to in reality does make for a good dystopia in the classical sense, but here it becomes more a question of cloak and dagger revolution. It does feature an advanced form of social psychology similar to what Asimov uses in the Foundation series, where behaviour and historical events are predicted; again it’s not explored much and is more a way for Herbert to push a political line – as is the end of the book. It wasn’t a bad novel, but it certainly wasn’t great either.

The stories in Aurealis #62 were Remnants by Dan Rabarts and The Leaves of the Manuka Tree by Phillip W Simpson. The first was a fantasy story that reminded me a lot of C A Smith in many respects; there was a king who’d lost his kingdom seeking an ancient artefact in a desert and even a necromancer. But I don’t think Smith would have had the family connection this one had. So I really enjoyed that one, the second one I did enjoy but not as much. It was more science fiction as it was far in the future and had a super soldier but it was wrapped up in Maori tradition, which was interesting in itself. However, it was very cut and dried and I just didn’t really connect with it.

I also started some books including book three in George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, it may be some time before I finish that though especially with NaNoWriMo looming large and the birth of my son not long after that. My ebook at the moment is Cory Doctorow’s Pirate Cinema which I’m having very mixed feelings about, more on that next month.

Keep dreaming!

Author Profile - Clark Ashton Smith

Clark Ashton Smith came from a poor background and spent much of his early life trying to earn money for his family. But even while young he displayed a love of story and a passion for language. Some of his earliest works were written as a teenager and they were strongly influenced by the Arabian Tales, an influence that would linger.

He abandoned prose for some years and was a fairly successful poet. After his first published volume he was taken under the arm by George Sterling and mingled with fellow poets of the time including Ambrose Bierce.

Nowadays he’s remembered for his short fiction works which he wrote primarily for pulp magazines like Weird Tales. In fact, in terms of the ‘weird’ fiction of the pulp era he was one of the three heavyweights along with Lovecraft and Robert E Howard, and while those two may be better known these days I would argue Smith is the better writer of the group.

The ties between the three, while primarily through letters, were highly influential however as they borrowed names and ideas from each other frequently. So the building and weaving of certain famous or infamous mythos began. Smith set many tales in Hyboria which shared and helped build Howard’s Hyperborean setting where Kull, Conan and Red Sonja ran about; and he used names from Lovecraft’s Cthulu mythos thus building on their renown and our knowledge of them within that crazy mixed-up universe.

Smith’s stories I must admit are not strong in plot, some of them barely even have one. Take The Abomination of Yondo, it tells of a man exiled from a harsh country into a desert known to contain horrors. We learn a little of why he was exiled but not a great deal, otherwise he simply walks on, encounters one monstrosity, continues on then encounters something so utterly terrifying he flees back to face torture and execution to escape the mad fear. Not much of a plot, but as we read it we drink in the details of the desert and its horrors, we sense the dread and the unnatural atmosphere of the place.

And that’s the key to Smith’s fiction – atmosphere. He creates the world we are reading about so vividly it really is like visiting the places ourselves. His use of language is rich and exorbitant, you may need a dictionary at times I know I did, and he clear took great delight in playing with words to build up these fantastic vistas and horrific scenes of death and worse. Make no mistake, these stories can be highly macabre, some seem to exist for no other reason than creeping you out. In that regard he was something of a successor to Poe.

I could say lots more about him of course but the best way to experience his writing is for yourself and I highly, highly recommend you do.

Keep dreaming!

AFP + GTO Concert - Sydney September 16, 2013

I want to say a few words about last Saturday night but I’m having a hard time finding them. In short, my wife, my teenage niece and I went to see Amanda Palmer and The Grand Theft Orchestra at The Enmore and the concert was brilliant. It was one of those nights where you can feel the energy and the positive vibes just radiating around the room. The performers were all full of life and bursting with energy and the mosh area was a wave of human activity and joyousness.

What’s more, this energy wasn’t just for Amanda and her band, it was for the support acts too. Sure it built to its fever pitch when Amanda came out to perform and almost immediately crowd-surfed, but it was pretty high even as people were gathering and DJ S… was doing her thing. So when Die R… came out to do their thing the mood was ready for fun. If only Otto and Astrid could deliver – oh wait.

So, Die Roten Punkte or The Red Spots in English, are … how does one put this? … insane? Hmm, not quite. Hilarious would be a fairer description. They’re a musical comedy duo from Germany (if you hadn’t guessed) and they treated us to punk rock treats like Burger Store Dinosaur. Their personas and relationship are worked out perfectly and there were definite times when it was hard to tell if the chaos was real or elegantly planned. The final number, which featured Amanda on double cowbell and later the GTO dancing was a riot of laughs as ’80s electro something (whatever Kraftwerk were) got a bizarre tribute at once mocking and loving.

We were then treated to two pieces by Jherek Bischoff, one third of The Grand Theft Orchestra and a composer. I admit the one thing of his I heard on YouTube was not to my liking, but these pieces were good. The first was a bass guitar solo so what’s not to love? The second was a version of something he wrote for the Kronos Quartet – which is pretty huge when you think about who they are in the Classical music world. He played it on the instrument he composed it on, the ukulele. I kid you not, he composed a string quartet on the uke – and listening to that rendition … I did not know the ukulele could sound quite like that.

Earlier in the day I’d said to my wife, ‘I wonder if they’ll play the Grand Theft Intermission as an intro while Amanda comes on stage’, so I was pretty chuffed when the band came out and started playing it. It was the beginning of an amazing set. They shot through the three biggest singles off the new album right at the front, then played a mix of older songs, covers and some Dresden Dolls numbers.

It was fascinating seeing the different dynamic of Amanda with the GTO and hearing the songs done by them as a group. I first saw her solo with some support from Mikelangelo and The Black Sea Gentlemen and they backed her up brilliantly but there was no sense of an organic whole, they were backing her up. Then I saw her with Brian Viglione as the Dresden Dolls and it was incredible how in synch they were. The Counting Crows can react in an instant to a subtle hand gesture from Adam, those two could communicate with a look.

With the GTO it was an organic whole, but more like the Counting Crows, Amanda did at times communicate with a hand gesture – I think anyway, I’m sure I saw her do it, once. But simply the instrumentation and the personalities altered the entire feel of the songs and the performance which was alive and electric. Chad on guitar was sometimes a little scary and if you don’t believe me ask the guy who copped shrapnel from a guitar when it played up, but he was right into the music. Which is how it was for them all, the music was the thing and with the waves of energy and love coming off the audience they rode that music.

I should not forget the powerhouse song by Amanda’s flat mate Mali, the vocalist for Jaggery. It was intense and rhythmic and a nice balance to the show as a whole. And her vocals during the encore performance of Sweet Dreams were amazing.

As I mentioned in my last blog Amanda did a signing after the show – why? Because she loves her fans dummy. I got separated from my wife who was in front of me in the queue, she didn’t want anything signed but had made a card for Amanda to thank her for everything she and her music has done for her. Touched, Amanda stood up, leant over the table, lightly held her head and kissed her gently on the cheek. I told you she loves her fans.

In the end I handed her my ticket because it felt silly to get up there without anything, but I just wanted to thank her and tell her it was an awesome show. She smiled and touched my arm gently in acknowledgement. I smudged the autograph within seconds but that really wasn’t the point – we have Amanda’s autograph on several things including a pair of coasters anyway. My niece did a similar thing, I don’t know what she said though – but for someone unfamiliar with Amanda’s music she seemed to have a really good night and chair danced a few times too.

So I guess I found the words, or rather they were already there I just had to start putting them down. There’s a lesson there.

I think the other lesson of the night, or something I take from Amanda in general, is that honesty and connection are powerful things. No hiding behind the shell, no hiding behind bitter resentments and negativity – that just leads to more bitterness and an endless loop of nothing actually happening and no-one being happy. Approach with honesty and love, accept people as they are and find the connection. Then magic can happen.

Keep dreaming.

August Reading Roundup At Last

Since my promise of regular posts I’ve been quiet, sorry about that. I have been busy though – preparing the house for a baby, which is ongoing, writing some freelance articles, studying some free courses via Coursera and watching my wife get a kiss from Amanda Palmer. I’ll write more about that last one soon, but first, before I completely forget, an August Reading Round-up.

I finished Clarke Ashton Smith’s Emperor of Dreams. I really recommend it to anyone who enjoys visiting distant vistas of the imagination; the places I went to while reading it are amazing. I wouldn’t want to go to them for real but I’m very happy I could tour them in my mind. Some of the stories were a bit lack-lustre I admit and most of the plots weren’t great, but that wasn’t the reason for reading them. The atmosphere and the landscapes of these stories are their real strength.

I also finished the Legends II anthology put together by Robert Silverberg. I had read most of this book years ago but still had three stories left – and, as we’re boxing some books to make way for the baby, I figured I’d knock this one over and put it away. The first story I read was Feist’s The Messenger, which follows a messenger travelling between camps on the front line and getting more than he bargained for. It was an interesting perspective to take and made for a fun read.

Then there was Elizabeth Haydon’s Threshold, which is set in the world of her Symphony of Ages series. I knew nothing of this series coming into this beyond the short introduction before it, but it was an engrossing story of people essentially waiting to die in a catastrophe, being lured by a gleam of hope, then utterly betrayed. Sorry, mild spoiler there.

Finally there was Terry Brooks’ Indomitable, set in Shannara. I actually found this a bit dull, there was too much introspection and recollection; I haven’t read any other Shannara works so I don’t know if that’s the norm or if the story being told just didn’t work without back story so Terry Brooks overcompensated, but it didn’t work for me.

Wil Wheaton’s Just a Geek was a surprise for me. I don’t read many autobiographical works but as Tabletop has inspired me to play more games and Wil has become something of a role model for me in his attitudes, and it was part of the last Humble Bundle ebook collection, I thought I’d read it. It was very honest, reading it feels like Wil telling you what happened then reading excerpts of his blog to you to fully paint the picture. It’s witty too and really grabbed me. I read it much more quickly than I would normally, even choosing to read it at times I reserve for physical paper books. Wil tells his own journey to a self-realisation and it’s inspiring and helps put things in perspective if you’re also wandering somewhat.

I think that’s all I read last month. At least to completion; I started Kevin J Anderson’s Hopscotch but I’ll discuss that next month along with Frank Herbert’s High-Opp and some other things.

Keep dreaming!

Plans/Dreams

Inspired by various people (Felicia Day, Amanda Palmer, Wil Wheaton, Neil Gaiman et al) and by life events (impending fatherdom) I’m going to try to treat the whole Wandering Friar enterprise – which is mostly to say my writing and this blog – as a business. As such I’m going to endeavour to post more regularly and have regular features, like my reading round-ups and author profiles, which will now be monthly events.

I have also been thinking of ways to expand Wandering Friar and pursue my dreams more fully. One of the things I’m planning on is to record audiobooks. These will be of public domain titles, particularly Gothic and post-Gothic works and Metaphysical poetry.

Another plan/dream is to develop my own RPG set in one of the many worlds I’ve dreamt up over the years. I’m thinking The Destroyed Continent will make a good start. It’s a huge archipelago which, funnily enough, used to be a continent until some cosmic disaster I haven’t yet determined the nature of. So there’ll be small cultures I can play with and room to grow things from a manageable position.

Finally there are my theatrical phantasmagorias, but I may give them their own post shortly.

So I’m getting the wheels of my plans into motion – cross your fingers and watch this space.

Keep dreaming.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

1996. Year 11. My memory of that year is that it was always overcast. When I try to think of sunlight all I remember is the girl I had a huge crush on at the time, her face was never in shadow. It was the year my chronic fatigue was at its worst and life was all a bit hard and confusing.

It was also a transformative year. I wrote most of our drama class’s recreation of the Eureka Stockade, I studied Hamlet and I discovered Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Suddenly, amidst the bleak mists of illness teenage and addlement I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to write plays.

I don’t think I can overestimate the impact Ros & Guil had on me at the time. It was hilarious and demonstrated a high level of wit, but it also had these speeches of philosophical quandaries. Quite simply it was breathtaking and life-changing.
But I never saw it performed – live anyway and the film is a different beast, still brilliant but different, and well, it’s a film so it can’t be the same; Ros & Guil is about characters in the wings of a play, it’s quintessentially theatre. So when my good friend and fellow raving loon Ash Walker offered me a ticket to the opening night of the new STC production … insert mad acceptance here.

I had one reservation – I’ve never been a Tim Minchin fan and he was going to be Rosencrantz. But, I was willing to chance it. And it’s a good thing I did. The production is quite simply fantastic. Tim played a somewhat dimmer Rosencrantz than I expected but he was nonetheless fitted and fully the character for that. The repartee between him and Toby Schmitz was flawless and the pair of them had an energy that carried the play along to each terrifying moment of nothing that inevitably followed every chaotic moment of action.

The rest of the cast was equally strong, particularly the players who had the right amount of knockabout comedy and the Shakespearean characters were the stereotypical ‘Shakespearean’ and brilliantly overdone which juxtaposed nicely with the ‘reality’ of Ros and Guil’s situation.

There’s much more sunlight in my life these days and the girl’s face has been replaced by my beautiful wife’s, but Stoppard’s influence remains. Whatever I end up achieving as a writer and in whatever field it is, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead will always be one of the underlying influences and its discovery will always be remembered by me as a major turning point in my life.

I’m now remembering all the stuff I’ve read of Stoppard saying art isn’t important and his plays just entertainment, nothing more. Well Sir Tom, you were wrong on that one, I know that much and right now the wind is southerly.

Keep dreaming.